The present invention relates to technology for data storage.
A variety of materials show reversible resistance-switching behavior. These materials include chalcogenides, carbon polymers, perovskites, and certain metal oxides and nitrides. Specifically, there are metal oxides and nitrides which include only one metal and exhibit reliable resistance switching behavior. This group includes, for example, NiO, Nb2O5, TiO2, HfO2, Al2O3, MgOx, CrO2, VO, BN, and AlN, as described by Pagnia and Sotnick in “Bistable Switching in Electroformed Metal-Insulator-Metal Device,” Phys. Stat. Sol. (A) 108, 11-65 (1988). A layer of one of these materials may be formed in an initial state, for example a relatively low-resistance state. Upon application of sufficient voltage, the material switches to a stable high-resistance state. This resistance switching is reversible such that subsequent application of an appropriate current or voltage can serve to return the resistance-switching material to a stable low-resistance state. This conversion can be repeated many times. For some materials, the initial state is high-resistance rather than low-resistance. A set process may refer to switching the material from high to low resistance, while a reset process may refer to switching the material from low to high resistance.
These reversible resistance-switching materials are of interest for use in nonvolatile memory arrays. One resistance state may correspond to a data “0,” for example, while the other resistance state corresponds to a data “1.” Some of these materials may have more than two stable resistance states.
Non-volatile memories that have storage elements or cells formed from reversible resistance-switching material are known. For example, U.S. Patent Application Publication 2006/0250836, filed May 9, 2005 and titled “Rewriteable Memory Cell Comprising A Diode And A Resistance-Switching Material,” which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety, describes a rewriteable non-volatile memory cell that includes a diode coupled in series with a reversible resistance-switching material such as a metal oxide or metal nitride.
However, controlling the switching process can be problematic. For example, if an insufficient voltage is applied, the cell may not change state. On the other hand, if an unnecessarily high voltage is applied to one cell, other cells may be disturbed and change states unexpectedly. Moreover, due to manufacturing variations, different memory cells may switch at different applied voltages.